1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to gaming systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing the appearance to players of playing a game requiring some skill, while actually playing a game where the outcome is predetermined before game play begins.
2. The Prior Art
Fixed pool games are well known, often forming the basis of many games used by many state and private lotteries. A fixed pool game is one in which a specified amount of money or prizes (the prizes having calculable monetary equivalents) are distributed into a set of individually purchasable and winnable units, where each individual unit has a known cost, and where the set further includes purchasable units having no prize. Thus, the total amount of prizes, the prize distribution (i.e., the number of prizes at each level), and the total return if all individually purchasable units are sold are known at the game's outset.
The individually purchasable units are typically generated and distributed as tickets. The two most common forms of tickets are pull tab tickets, called pulltabs, and scratch-off tickets, called scratchers. Pull tab tickets are typically constructed from paper of various thickness, having two layers. The first layer has some type of indication of the purchasers' winnings, if any, and the second layer covers the first. The second layer is typically glued to the first layer around three edges, covering the results. The fourth edge typically has a small tab, allowing the purchaser to grab hold of it. The tab, upon being pulled, pulls the layers apart and reveals the purchasers' winnings, if any. Scratchers use an opaque material that covers portions of the ticket, where the covered portions have the predetermined results on them. The purchaser scrapes off the opaque material, revealing any winnings.
The distribution of the total winnings, coupled with the cost of each individually purchasable unit, is determined by those making up the game. The exact mechanics and mathematics of each game pool depends on the goals of the issuer, including the target play audience (how much to charge per purchasable unit or ticket or play), the desired return on investment, and size of the pool, as well as other considerations as are well known in the art. The tickets (individually purchasable units) for the entire game are then printed and distributed, usually organized into decks with different decks sold to different locations. Players, by purchasing a ticket, are buying one individually purchasable unit from the overall ticket or game event pool.
This may be referred to as a fixed-pool lottery, meaning there is a fixed pool of tickets (or results) having a predetermined number of winners and losers, and a purchaser takes a chance on getting a winning result by entering the “lottery”, meaning taking the chance they will buy a winning ticket from the pool.
To make the results more interesting to a player, fixed-pool lottery based games have been recently been displayed in many ways. One particular representation is as a poker hand, attempting to mimic actual poker play. The player bets a certain amount to play the game. This corresponds to an individually purchasable unit for the lottery being used. The game will typically get the result of a random drawing from a central server or location having several operating pools. The result is sent back to the game machine. The game machine then represents the results in as a game.
Up to the present time, game machines using fixed-pool lotteries which have attempted to represent the predetermined winning amount by mimicking poker and other games involving some skill component have had significant limitations. For example, if the predetermined win is presented in the form of poker, the prior art machines would present the player with a 5 cards (mimicking a hand). The player then indicates which cards to hold, with the rest being “discarded”. If the player is either not a good poker player or is going for long odds, it is often the case that the discarded cards were needed to make up the predetermined winning hand.
For example, suppose the predetermined award required the player to end up with a full house and the player's initial hand had two pair. If the player discards one from pair, leaving three unrelated cards, a full house cannot be created with the next “draw”. The prior art game overrides the player's hold choices and discards the “correct” cards, resulting in a new hand having a full house.
The action of overriding a player's choices completely ruins the intended purpose of the game, which is to produce the illusion of true skill or partial-skill game play. This same thing is true of any game that, if not being used to visually represent predetermined winnings, involve player skill to maximize results. Games appear artificial because the player can tell their choices are being manipulated. As a result, these games have generally attracted minimal player interest.
Thus, there is a need to have skill-based games that can use with predetermined results that can mimic the game play player's experience when they play the game without predetermined results.